Mick Cronin (basketball)

Michael Walter "Mick" Cronin (born (1971-07-17)July 17, 1971^[2]) is the current head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team.

Early life

Cronin grew up on the west side of Cincinnati, the son of Peggy and Harold "Hep" Cronin. Mick was one of three children along with brother, Dan, and sister, Kelly.^[3] Hep Cronin was a high school coach with more than 400 career wins—around the gyms of Cincinnati.^[4] Not only did his father coach basketball, he also was a teacher, a baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves, and an employee at River Downs race track during the summers.^[3]

Attending La Salle High School, the five-foot, three-inch Cronin, playing for his dad,^[5] earned all-city honors in basketball at LaSalle. He led the city in assists and was second in 3-point shooting percentage during the 1989–90 season. A knee injury near the end of his junior season ended his playing career.^[6][7]

As a student at the University of Cincinnati, while accompanying his dad to scout a Cincinnati Woodward High School game, Cronin was offered a job coaching the freshman team and assisting with the varsity by then-Bulldogs coach Jim Leon.^[3] From 1991 to 1996, he served as a varsity assistant coach and junior varsity coach at Woodward High.^[8] Cronin compiled a 57-3 record in three seasons as JV coach, and as a varsity aide, Woodward claimed three city championships. While at Woodward, Cronin helped develop six players who went on to play Division I college basketball, including former University of Louisville players Eric Johnson and Dion Edwards, and former Cincinnati guard Damon Flint.

Cronin received a bachelor of science degree in history from the University of Cincinnati in 1996.^[9]

In the spring of 1996, Cronin coached the East team in the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic. He was director of the 1994 Pittsburgh high school Roundball Classic national all-star game. Cronin has coached and served on the selection committee for the Adidas camp and spent four summers on the staff of the Five-Star Teaching Camp.

College coaching career

Cronin took his first college coaching job as a video coordinator under Bob Huggins at the University of Cincinnati in 1996–97, and the following season was elevated to assistant coach, a post he held at UC until 2001.^[10] Cronin built a reputation for his ability to evaluate and recruit top talent; at UC as an assistant for Huggins from 1997 to 2001, Cronin recruits included NBA Draft selections Steve Logan (Golden State Warriors), DerMarr Johnson (Atlanta Hawks), Pete Mickeal and Kenny Satterfield (both drafted by the Dallas Mavericks), and Jason Maxiell (Detroit Pistons).^[7]

Cronin became the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Louisville under Rick Pitino, beginning with the 2001–02 season. In his first year, Cronin helped attract a top-10 ranked recruiting class.^[7]

Cronin's first head coaching job was at Murray State,^[11] where he was hired in 2003.^[12] In three seasons at Murray, Cronin led the team to the NCAA Tournament twice and was named the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference coach of the year.

After the 2005–06 season, he was hired as Cincinnati's coach, replacing interim coach Andy Kennedy after the dismissal of Bob Huggins.^[13] Cronin had to pick up the pieces from a depleted program after Huggins was asked to resign with no warning three months before the 2005 season, and a temporary coach was used for a season. Due to the school having done little to no recruiting for nearly a year, Cronin was forced to scrounge for players. He even had a couple players on the football team play, one being current New York Giants linebacker Connor Barwin.

Although Cronin's teams struggled early in his UC career, he improved the school's win total each of his first five seasons. Since the beginning of the 2010 season, the Bearcats have amassed a 166-63 record, have spent 45 weeks ranked in the AP Poll, and have reached 6 straight NCAA Tournaments, while picking up 4 NCAA Tournament wins as well (as of February 3, 2017). For the 2009–10 season, Cronin was able to successfully recruit Lance Stephenson, the all-time leading scorer in New York state high school basketball history who has had NBA stints with Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angeles Lakers During his one season at Cincinnati, Stephenson was named the Big East Rookie of the Year.^[14]

Cronin is also the only UC coach to ever lead the Bearcats to a win over a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament, when 6th-seeded Cincinnati defeated 3rd-seeded Florida State in 2012.

In 2011, the University of Cincinnati board of trustees approved a contract extension for Cronin through 2017 with an average pay of $1.5 million a year. It included an increase in salary for his staff, as well as an increase in the basketball program budget.^[7][15] At the April UC Board of Trustees Meeting, Cronin was given a 2-year extension would take Cronin through the 2022–23 season^[16]

Cronin has long been pushing for either a new arena or a renovation of Fifth Third Arena in order for the Bearcats to remain competitive on a national scale. In March of 2017, the University of Cincinnati began an $87 million dollar renovation estimated to be completed by Fall 2018.^[17] "This building is about our future and is a testament to the commitment our university and donors have toward our programs."^[18]

Personal life and community involvement

Cronin is very active in Cincinnati-area charities. He serves as a board member of the American Cancer Society's Coaches vs. Cancer of Southwest Ohio chapter. He assists with a major fundraising event, Soul of the City Soiree, for Our Daily Bread soup kitchen that has generated more than $100,000 each of the past two years.

Cronin also annually speaks with the Young Executive Group of the Catholic Inner-City Schools Education (CISE) Fund. The group raises money from area corporations to help give children from low-income urban settings the opportunity to attend Catholic schools.^[7]

Cronin is single (he was divorced in 2009)^[15] and resides in Anderson Township^[19] in the Cincinnati area with his young daughter.^[7][20] Cronin's father, Hep, who lives with Mick's sister, Kelly, attends Bearcats games, frequently attends their practices and sometimes travels with the team.^[3] Cronin's mother, Peggy, died of cancer in 2005. He has a brother, Dan, who starred at Bethel College in basketball and baseball, and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves is 1988. Dan is also a cancer survivor.

On December 22, 2014, during the 2014–2015 season, Cronin, 43, was diagnosed with an unruptured aneurysm detected when he underwent medical testing for unexplained headaches. On January 2, 2015 it was announced that, although doctors expect the condition to heal with rest and medication, Cronin would not coach the remainder of the season. However, Cronin said he felt great and that he would be able to continue to oversee the program and be involved in recruiting.^[21] On March 30, 2015 Cronin announced he had a clean bill of health and was cleared to return to full-time coaching duties following his diagnosis of an arterial dissection.^[22]

Head coaching record

*Cronin missed a portion of the 2014–15 season due to an illness. Cronin received both the wins and the losses for that season, based on a decision by athletic director Mike Bohn after UC officials sought a ruling on the issue from the NCAA and were told that it was up to the school.^[23]

References